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Indestructible Man
- Addeddate
- 2004-04-06 19:49:36
- Closed captioning
- no
- Color
- b&w
- Identifier
- indestructible_man
- Run time
- 1:11:02
- Sound
- sound
- Type
- MovingImage
- Year
- 1955
comment
Reviews
(25)
Reviewer:
Dave Smith 2021
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
September 7, 2023
Subject: Lon Chaney Jr was a great actor who deserved better roles
Subject: Lon Chaney Jr was a great actor who deserved better roles
I really enjoyed this movie and Lon Chaney Jr was great. It's sad that he didn't get major roles for most of his career but i think he alcoholism may have
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had something to do with that.
Reviewer:
Sean Patrick HUNTER
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
September 4, 2023 (edited)
Subject: Great Old Lon Chaney Movie
Subject: Great Old Lon Chaney Movie
I loved this movie when I was a kid in the 1970s living in rural upstate New York and watching the “Creature Feature” every Saturday that was broadcasted
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out of NYC.
Brings back great memories.
Brings back great memories.
Reviewer:
sportster1988
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
January 18, 2020
Subject: Didn't take long.
Subject: Didn't take long.
Didn't take long for Inspector Henderson and Captain Wally Binghampton to bite the dust.
Reviewer:
HUGSGUTZ
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
March 15, 2019
Subject: Indestructible Man - 1955
Subject: Indestructible Man - 1955
IMDb shows "Indestructible Man" as 1956.
Reviewer:
se7enMM
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
August 7, 2016
Subject: Lon Chaney.....
Subject: Lon Chaney.....
.....the man just loved acting. Through and through. You can see it in just about everything he's in. Thanks to the uploader! A fine, fun film that I had
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not seen before.
~Dave
~Dave
Reviewer:
trilby1989
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favoritefavorite -
December 9, 2011
Subject: Two Special Awards = Two Stars
Subject: Two Special Awards = Two Stars
The first goes to the one with the bright idea of using a flame thrower in the LA sewer system. Obviously it was shot in the storm drain system and not
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the sewer system, as methane gas in a sewer system would have exploded killing the entire cast and crew.
The second goes to Marion Carr for her Eva Martin character: "Dumbest Dumb Blonde in a 1950's Film" (quite an achievement I might add, as this was THE decade of the dumb blonde). When hero detective Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) picks her up to pump her for information, his line is basically: "What's a nice stripper like you doing working in a dive like this?". Cluelessly, she falls for it; never once suspects he is just trying to get information from her. Her explanations and behavior throughout the story do not betray our first impressions: Eva indeed fell off the salmon truck into shark infested 1950's LA.
The last third of the film is exciting, most of the acting is good, but the story really stinks. 4/10
The second goes to Marion Carr for her Eva Martin character: "Dumbest Dumb Blonde in a 1950's Film" (quite an achievement I might add, as this was THE decade of the dumb blonde). When hero detective Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) picks her up to pump her for information, his line is basically: "What's a nice stripper like you doing working in a dive like this?". Cluelessly, she falls for it; never once suspects he is just trying to get information from her. Her explanations and behavior throughout the story do not betray our first impressions: Eva indeed fell off the salmon truck into shark infested 1950's LA.
The last third of the film is exciting, most of the acting is good, but the story really stinks. 4/10
Reviewer:
Menucius
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
August 13, 2010 (edited)
Subject: Post-industrialism condemned
Subject: Post-industrialism condemned
This soulful tale of class exploitation in the wake of the post-industrial revolution takes its cue from the main character (an everyman representing the
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common worker), hideously changed by a pitiless scientist (representing the corporate shill) who uses him for selfish personal advancement.
Communist themes run deep in this thinly masked condemnation of Western economic theory, as the man once forced to steal for his living is revived unnaturally to serve the machine of industry once more (literally flogging the dead horse). The pathetic rampage of this distorted soul serves to wring the emotions of the audience, appealing blatantly to a sense of higher justice and the right of every individual to economic self-determination.
The only wonder is that such an explicitly subversive film, with its confronting closeups of the main character, made it past the censors of the McCarthy era. It should be noted that the later Chuck Norris film 'Silent Rage', despite being a transparent copy of 'Indestructible Man', failed completely to maintain any of the subtleties of the original's subtext, trading serious social comment for cheap thrills and fight scenes.
Communist themes run deep in this thinly masked condemnation of Western economic theory, as the man once forced to steal for his living is revived unnaturally to serve the machine of industry once more (literally flogging the dead horse). The pathetic rampage of this distorted soul serves to wring the emotions of the audience, appealing blatantly to a sense of higher justice and the right of every individual to economic self-determination.
The only wonder is that such an explicitly subversive film, with its confronting closeups of the main character, made it past the censors of the McCarthy era. It should be noted that the later Chuck Norris film 'Silent Rage', despite being a transparent copy of 'Indestructible Man', failed completely to maintain any of the subtleties of the original's subtext, trading serious social comment for cheap thrills and fight scenes.
Reviewer:
ohsnapiam56
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
August 9, 2010
Subject: Movie Bad, Chaney Good
Subject: Movie Bad, Chaney Good
It's a testament to Chaney that even in a bad movie like this he can manage to get sympathy from the viewers without saying a word. Personally, I was horrified
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that they used a flame thrower...Geez! I give the movie 3 stars.
Reviewer:
1StepBeyond
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
October 15, 2009
Subject: Let's hear some applause for Lon Chaney Jr
Subject: Let's hear some applause for Lon Chaney Jr
This guy had the kind of face audiences feared. He was 6'2" and strong as an ox. The ravages of what was probably a life time of alcohol consumption
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shows in every pore of his face. He always played the monster. But underneath that I see a talent that made me and millions of others go to the movies. He did have acting ability but knew he was always going to be typecast. This movie overall is pretty good and has more than several levels of story.
Reviewer:
Fireball Steve Zodiac
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
January 2, 2009
Subject: kind of frustrating for me
Subject: kind of frustrating for me
Lon Chaney, jr's best stuff doesn't get out much anymore, its too bad too. Even this piece is kind of strange for it's slightly overworked edits. There
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is a billboard leader dropped in where it shouldn't be, as if 2 different reels were used together to make a whole final good copy of the one film, the audio change there lends credence to that too. Internet Archive also has Lon in Behave Yourself and a Tales of Tomorrow Episode. And I recently saw him in Bob Hope's My Favorite Brunette, where he plays an idiot muscleman alongside Peter Lorre. And collectively these pieces don't make him look good. And he is good. He does have a kind of cardboard face that has limited expression to it, sort of like Charlton Heston's forever grim grimace face, but Lon's is less stoic and more like whipped mashed potatoes. But in lots of other movies he plays well, and production values are higher. So if you are a Lon Chaney, jr fan, Internet Archive really isn't showing us his best work yet. It is an interesting movie because it furthers the storyline invented with Richard Basehart in He Walks By Night, which is available here on IA, marries it to serial killer and Frankenstein monster themes, and as another review here notes, we have the groundwork for the later special effects movie called Shocker. This release of Indestructible Man could be re-edited as is and made better, fewer wierd cuts and Lon's face closeup of the insane man, desperate and conniving at wit's end, sweating the moment profusely. And it'd be a decent monster movie flick. Only one really weak special effect at the end where the four legged industrial crane blows up, and if that had been slo moe'd by one third, and edited in one time less, it actually would look pretty good.
Reviewer:
JohnMKoroly
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
July 17, 2008
Subject: A New Genre: SF Noir!
Subject: A New Genre: SF Noir!
It's got a science fiction premise, but it's written and shot like a classic 50's film noir. The "monster" is really the Anti-hero. GREAT use of LA
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locations. I can see how it became MST3K fodder, though. Wish they'd re-open that Angels Flight funicular railway. For what it's worth, I recall watching this when I was 9 or 10 on Creature Features on NYC Channel 5.
Reviewer:
flapfrog
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
February 2, 2008
Subject: classic horror
Subject: classic horror
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creepy little flick about a man who gets killed and comes back to life as a super strong madman to seek revenge on the man who ratted him out.
genius!
genius!
Reviewer:
SilverScreen89
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favorite -
January 12, 2008
Subject: You're not suppesed to say no to a detective!
Subject: You're not suppesed to say no to a detective!
Did anyone else feel sorry for 'the monster'? Because I did, all throughout the movie. He had that sad look in his eyes. But I did find the close ups
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extremely cheesy.
As the love story. First, the dame is so sorry for the death of her man that she feels so emotional about opening the envelope, then she goes out with the detective after saying no to the lawyer. Some bad plotting. In fact, it's a bad movie altogether.
As the love story. First, the dame is so sorry for the death of her man that she feels so emotional about opening the envelope, then she goes out with the detective after saying no to the lawyer. Some bad plotting. In fact, it's a bad movie altogether.
Reviewer:
Sixbluemonkeys
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
March 18, 2007
Subject: The Indestructible Shirt!
Subject: The Indestructible Shirt!
First, in my opinion, there is nothing Noir about this film. The L.A. locations, budget lighting, and detective story elements hardly qualify this Z-grade
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horror/shocker as such.
That aside, this is a wonderfully bad movie with some choice moments. The film is loaded to the gills with stars that would later appear on television. Spotting them makes for half the fun. Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams) would later play Grandpa Fred in Sixteen Candles.["I'd better get my magnifying glass..."]
Lon Chaney, Jr. does a good job, considering his character is mute, although the repeated close-ups of his twitching face will make you laugh more than terrify you. [To those that say Chaney was at the end of his career have obviously not seen any of the twenty or more films he made after this. "Spider Baby" from 1968 is a fantastic piece with this under-rated actor.But, yes, he made his fair share of schlock.]
This is the kind of film that will make you want to paste a silouette of a guy and two robots to the bottom of the screen and invite all your wisecracking friends over to see.
That aside, this is a wonderfully bad movie with some choice moments. The film is loaded to the gills with stars that would later appear on television. Spotting them makes for half the fun. Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams) would later play Grandpa Fred in Sixteen Candles.["I'd better get my magnifying glass..."]
Lon Chaney, Jr. does a good job, considering his character is mute, although the repeated close-ups of his twitching face will make you laugh more than terrify you. [To those that say Chaney was at the end of his career have obviously not seen any of the twenty or more films he made after this. "Spider Baby" from 1968 is a fantastic piece with this under-rated actor.But, yes, he made his fair share of schlock.]
This is the kind of film that will make you want to paste a silouette of a guy and two robots to the bottom of the screen and invite all your wisecracking friends over to see.
Reviewer:
gratefulviewer
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
March 17, 2007
Subject: Entertaining enough- this "review" contians spoilers.
Subject: Entertaining enough- this "review" contians spoilers.
Contains spoilers:
Mild suspense, and a couple of interesting locations. A story about a man who is brought back to life and is "indestructible," and ... out for revenge against those who double-crossed him.
The "honest" and "dedicated" cops are a bit revolting, and the movie features yet another example of how "men" have only one solution to anything: death, shooting, etc. So many movies (and programs and most regrettably real life) have "men" faced with a problem of any size, and "solving" it through death.
Mild suspense, and a couple of interesting locations. A story about a man who is brought back to life and is "indestructible," and ... out for revenge against those who double-crossed him.
The "honest" and "dedicated" cops are a bit revolting, and the movie features yet another example of how "men" have only one solution to anything: death, shooting, etc. So many movies (and programs and most regrettably real life) have "men" faced with a problem of any size, and "solving" it through death.
Reviewer:
movieguy420
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
December 26, 2006
Subject: Underated
Subject: Underated
Very good movie interesting filming locations in downtown Los Angeles Lon Chaney Jr is very good in this one.
Reviewer:
prmtrx
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
October 3, 2006
Subject: little error
Subject: little error
very good (bad ;-) movie, but there is a little interrupt from 54min:21sec till 54min:48sec.
Reviewer:
Spuzz
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favoritefavorite -
April 10, 2006
Subject: Obviously not The Third Man
Subject: Obviously not The Third Man
I just wonder if the Indestructable Man was somewhat of a different movie at one time or another. This movie seems far too muddled in unnecceary voice-overs
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and the fact that Chaney doesnÃÂt speak for the majority of the movie (because of course the drug that made him the Indestructable man affected his vocal cords, but strangely, nothing else). Karloff doesnÃÂt really make a convincing villain because heÃÂs going, uh, rather slow and not necessarily menacing, lumbering from one victim to the next, Of course, everyone else thinks heÃÂs terrifying, what with his quivering eyes and what not. This tries to mix the film noir with the monster movie, and fails somewhat because it seems to have too much film noir and not enough monster, in the literal sense
Reviewer:
bobsluckycat
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
May 29, 2005
Subject: Superior Of Kind
Subject: Superior Of Kind
Lon Chaney Jr. except for the opening sequence has no dialogue and yet he carries the film as only he can with just mannerisms and facial features and
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a minimal amount of make-up towards the end as well as doing his own stunts. This is his picture and he's in total control.
Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams) also quite effective as is the entire cast. Great on location filming at old L.A. sites also blended in well with studio footage. The final minature scene appears to be by the Lydecker Brothers. Albert Glasser's score is perfect for the mood and adds to the tension and the deliberate pace of the piece.
Max Showalter (billed as Casey Adams) also quite effective as is the entire cast. Great on location filming at old L.A. sites also blended in well with studio footage. The final minature scene appears to be by the Lydecker Brothers. Albert Glasser's score is perfect for the mood and adds to the tension and the deliberate pace of the piece.
Reviewer:
moxey
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
May 27, 2005
Subject: so bad its good
Subject: so bad its good
this is one of those films that can be put in the same category as the film"from hell it came".
poor Lon looks like he just got finnished with a few quarts ... of gin when he filmed this little gem.
it is vintage horror of that era.
a must see for those who love horrible movies.
poor Lon looks like he just got finnished with a few quarts ... of gin when he filmed this little gem.
it is vintage horror of that era.
a must see for those who love horrible movies.
Reviewer:
kjpweb
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
February 16, 2005
Subject: It very well can be fun...
Subject: It very well can be fun...
Technical Side upfront: Good Quality - just the cut inserted in 1985 seems quite odd.
The Movie itsself is fun to watch. A "Sam Spade" Detective narrates ... the background story and is lead by his hunch, that a case, a murderer is going to be prosecuted for, is not quite closed.
And all comes to play and everyone gets a piece of his favorite genre - from science fiction to romance, from action to film noire - bits and pieces of it are all there.
Although some of the scenes look odd today, they have charme and that makes the movie worthwile
entertainment.
And - for a low budget B-Movie it hides the restrains of little funding quite well.
The Movie itsself is fun to watch. A "Sam Spade" Detective narrates ... the background story and is lead by his hunch, that a case, a murderer is going to be prosecuted for, is not quite closed.
And all comes to play and everyone gets a piece of his favorite genre - from science fiction to romance, from action to film noire - bits and pieces of it are all there.
Although some of the scenes look odd today, they have charme and that makes the movie worthwile
entertainment.
And - for a low budget B-Movie it hides the restrains of little funding quite well.
Reviewer:
Bob D Lamer
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
January 27, 2005 (edited)
Subject: Revenge of the Chair Man
Subject: Revenge of the Chair Man
I swear this movie was the inspiration for a couple others of recent vintage. I recall one called "Shocker" '89 or '90 if fading memory serves. It was
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nice to see Lon Chaney work his magic. (Yeah, I like Lon Chaney!)
The quality of the mpeg2 transfer is quite good compared to many I have sampled from the archive. I would call this one a gem among the films available. I did some editing with Tmpgenc about halfway through as they apparently joined two dumps (you'll see it unless they have replaced it) and it wasn't a real pretty marriage. The editing proved very successful and the film turned into a real keeper. I rated it down 1 star because of this imperfection.
The quality of the mpeg2 transfer is quite good compared to many I have sampled from the archive. I would call this one a gem among the films available. I did some editing with Tmpgenc about halfway through as they apparently joined two dumps (you'll see it unless they have replaced it) and it wasn't a real pretty marriage. The editing proved very successful and the film turned into a real keeper. I rated it down 1 star because of this imperfection.
Reviewer:
FP
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favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite -
January 26, 2005 (edited)
Subject: Great, but for different reasons than when I was a kid
Subject: Great, but for different reasons than when I was a kid
When I was 6 years old, this movie thrilled me. Now, it's still very entertaining - not as the overwhelming epic it seemed way back when, but as a great
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example of the wise use of a microsopic budget. The dated pacing, dialogue, and narration add to the enjoyment. Transfer and encoding are very good.
Reviewer:
Bob Noxious
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favoritefavoritefavorite -
June 25, 2004 (edited)
Subject: Reanimated Revenge!
Subject: Reanimated Revenge!
Crime doesn't pay... especially when you set up a violent big guy to take the fall for a murder that happened during a robbery... and he comes back from
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the dead for revenge. Lon Chaney Jr is "The Butcher"- the big guy that takes the fall, rides ol' sparky to the other side, and has his still toasty body highjacked to the reanimation research kitchens of a megalomaniac doctor where he is brought back to "life". His vocal cords damaged, he sets out to kill the entire all star cast, sans the babe, and clear his name. The acting is great, production is above average for a b-movie of the time and the print/digitizing quality looks and sounds great. Look for a few hilarious mispronunciations of medical terms (like syringe) during the reanimation scene.
There are 25 reviews for this item. .
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